Charlie Brown nailed it. We have been waiting around all holidays for this week, waiting for our much loved students to finally arrive back at school, it’s 100% true!
A big welcome back to all of our families and a huge and warm welcome to our new families joining our school in 2020.
I need to acknowledge our students and their teachers for what has been a wonderfully pleasant and settled start to the school year. The teachers countless hours in placing students in classes which will best support their growth and their many hours of coming in over the holidays to set up classrooms and programs has certainly paid off with happy settled students. Classes are now set for 2020.
As always students wellbeing and academic success is at the core of all decisions made at the school. It is for this reason the school has restructured the senior classes to make up seven stage based classes which have a balance of Year 5 and Year 6 students. This restructure will afford our students many additional social, emotional and academic opportunities. An information session with Stage 3 teachers is scheduled for this Thursday at 5pm in the school library.
Meet The Teacher meetings are scheduled for Week 5 (24th February onwards) and you will be notified with the details closer to the time.
Hello There
Welcome to our new staff members joining us in 2020.
Mrs Tanya Theoharous is joining our dynamic office team as a School Administration Officer.
Ms Danielle McLoon KM
Mrs Natalie Natoli KN
Miss Tiarna Peek 1P
Mrs Jennifer Bayada 2B
Ms Tarin Vergara 3V
Miss Samantha Kidd 3K
Ms Christie Absalom 56C
Mr Trevor James 56T
Mrs Olga Albert Support
Mrs Rachel Sellen Support
These new staff members bring a wealth of experience and a diverse range of skills and expertise. I’m sure you will make them feel very welcomed at our school.
Love Where You Learn
My vision as a school principal is to create a school environment where every child cannot wait to get out of bed and get to school! An aspirational goal, granted.
In 2020 one way to work towards this goal will be to have a more proactive School Representative Council through which we can access greater student voice and allow students to have more input in what they would like to have at the school in order to become flourishing young people.
We have also employed two Instructional Leaders who will support teachers to ensure students are challenged and supported to achieve their personal academic best. You may hear lots of terms like ‘grit’ and ‘brain sweat’ this year. This simply means children are challenged enough to be out of their comfort zone, encouraged not to give up and stick at difficult tasks. The skill of the teacher is to ensure we hit the ‘sweet spot’ of challenge otherwise known as 'The Goldilocks Effect' (not too hard, not to easy, but just right). The most powerful word is ‘yet’, “I can’t do it yet!”.
We have also employed a Learning and Support Assistant Principal to ensure we are able to coordinate and offer more timely assistance for our students who require additional support. The Assistant Principal will coordinate support plans and liaise with parents, specialist staff and outside agencies so our support can be as timely, impactful and strategic as possible.
I spoke to many of our students today about the concept of Love Where You Learn. In 2019 we did quite a bit of work about being an Upstander not a Bystander and What you walk past is what you accept. I believe this has had a huge impact on students being able to achieve a sense of belonging and shared purpose in the school. There is no doubt we still have a way to go with achieving the school utopia we aspire to but definitely a great start. We will absolutely be continuing this in 2020.
I spoke to the children today about the idea of belonging and how our school uniform is a reminder that we are all part of something pretty special, Regentville Public School. I spoke about how wearing our uniform with pride shows the world just how proud we are to be at this school and shows we love where we learn. I told them that I can’t make this school exceptional on my own, I need them, their families and the school to be working together. I really encourage families to support the school in ensuring students are wearing their full school uniform. Please refer to the school uniform guide for guidance in this matter. School hats are always a tricky one but can I please assure you school hats are an expectation (don’t be tricked into being told otherwise by your very clever kids!).
There are some very exciting times ahead in 2020 and I am so happy to be part of this journey with this wonderful school community!
Communication
As always communication in a large and complex school remains a challenge. We have three main channels of communication for our families.
The school website https://regentvill-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/
The school Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Regentville-Public-School-148626528602310/
The Regentville Public School Skoolbag app.
We expect our families will be proactive in reading newsletters and consulting the school website if additional information or clarification is required.
As we are now delivering important communication through email please ensure you update your email address at the office as soon as possible.
Traffic Safety
As student safety is our number one priority I respectfully ask that parents do not park in any of the staff car parks. We often have pedestrians in these areas and need to minimise traffic. I appreciate parking at school times is incredibly challenging but remind you of our two Kiss n Drop areas and perhaps suggest carpooling with other families to alleviate the pressure.
HEALTH CARE PLANS AND STUDENT INFORMATION
Each year we request information about any health issues for your child. It is also important that you let us know if your child’s health care needs change or if a new health condition develops. Information about allergies, medical conditions such as asthma and diabetes and other health -related issues should be provided to the school by parents.
Please also remember to notify the school office of any changes to your contact details or the contact details of your child’s nominated emergency contact. Any information you provide the school will be stored securely and will only be used or disclosed in order to support your son or daughter’s health needs or as otherwise required by law.
Our school use a fantastic app called CareMonkey. Parents and carers can update details, including contact details, via the app or register to start a new health care plan. If you are unsure of how to register we will be more than happy to help. Just ask one of our friendly office staff.
